Dwelling in the Secret Place

“He that dwells in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust. Surely he shall deliver me from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence.”

Pslams 91:1

On Saturday I went up the McKenzie River and placed my dear friend, Hollis Lee Willams, in his new home. I dare not say “final resting place” lest the fowlers descend and ensnare this Veteran one more time.

Thanks to my late uncle Vinny, alas I was able to pay the mortuary for the cremated remains of Mr.H, and he was brought out of a dark closet. I put H in my golf bag and took him golfing at Tokatee. I took photos of his brass monolith on the 7th. green in front of the Three Sisters. Hollis and I dreamed about making films, even a movie. My film was going to be about a roving gang of homeless Hobo golfers who take over country courses because they are too poor to pay the fees. They are dressed in old cut-up leather golf bags. Shades of the Road Warrior and Charles Dickens.

“We just want to know what it feels like to make par!”

I had paid for H to be taken to the National cemetary in Portland where he would have full military honors, but, when I tried to make an appointment, his records could not be found and I was asked to call the mortuary to find out why.

Enough! I don’t want to know why! Two weeks ago I got an e-mail from Julia Kimani the executive producer of CBS News. She had come across my blog about Hollis being denied SSI and Medicaid. I could scan and post these denials I came to own, but, I do not want to dirty my memory of Hollis that came to me as I stood at the foot of his bed after calling 911 to report; “My dear friend is dead.”

I looked at Hollis and knew he was out of the loop, and all the trouble that I knew was still coming his way, would fall on deaf ears. I on the other hand……was going to hear a lot of bullshit – and the “noisome pestilence.” that comes with!

I did pay for two Death certificates, wherein it says “homelessness” contributed to Hollis’ death. It took all my moral strength to keep Hollis jumping through the hoops. To see this kind and gentle man livid with frustration, was unfair. Two months after being in his own home, H was in crisis. After ten years of being a homeless survivor, he was stuck in survival mode. He did not know what to do and how to feel now that he was – safe? He was uncomfortable. He was a caged bird. He began to die. I watched him do this. He was terrified they would put him in a rest home due to his poor health. There, he would be utterly isolated.

I put Hollis’s cremated remains in a secret place. I put H in the great out-of-doors where he dwelled for the last ten years. Mr. H can stay here forever. He does not need to go to town, go to Safeway and beg for cans so he can eat. He has returned to the garden. He is in paradise. He is asleep under a great fallen tree. But, he will not be alone. I come here to go fishing, and almost every time I have, here come the kayakers and rafters down the river squealing for joy as they hit the white water. Then there was the otter a friend spotted. In this wilderness Hollis will never be alone. If anything killed Hollis, it was this……

When Hollis crawled out from under a bridge, he did so with a smile upon his face, for he would soon see all his friends, his people, his humanity in the market place. He would call out your name in the store, give you a wave as you drove by. I never met a human being who loved to be around people so much. In turn, people loved to be around Hollis. When you were in his presence, you got to meet total strangers, folks you would never give the time of day. Hollis’ new home took him away from his passion. If Hollis had his way, his ashes would be in a niche in the wall at Safeway.

Hollis told me that the police discovered his secret sleeping place under Rosa Parks park due to his terrible cough. The cough that killed him, betrayed him. They spread lye down, and he got burned when he returned. Everyone else who heard H cough, took pity.

Last night I watched PBS broadcast a beautiful memorial concert. Colin Powell gave America a calling, he bidding us to help many Veterans who suffer, come home, and be home. There was a call for good ideas on how We can do this.

God put Hollis Lee Williams on the frontline of our humanity so We can own this message he broadcast; “in him I will trust.”

God bid me to put his messenger where I put him, and that, is that! To all those who loved Hollis, you are welcome to come here in spirit, come to this secret spiritual place, and be in the shadow of the Almighty.

Amen

“The object of the Adopt-a-Veteran program is to take the place of family, to replace loneliness with hope and to let the veterans know we will never forget them.”

https://rosamondpress.wordpress.com/2013/03/12/the-unfamilied-soldier/

Bring Him Home by Les Miserables Cast
(Valjean is standing over Marius at the barricade)

VALJEAN
God on high
Hear my prayer
In my need
You have always been there

He is young
He’s afraid
Let him rest
Heaven blessed.
Bring him home
Bring him home
Bring him home.

He’s like the son I might have known
If God had granted me a son.
The summers die
One by one
How soon they fly
On and on
And I am old
And will be gone.

Bring him peace
Bring him joy
He is young
He is only a boy

You can take
You can give
Let him be
Let him live
If I die, let me die
Let him live
Bring him home
Bring him home
Bring him home.

http://video.pbs.org/video/2365002640

http://www.pbs.org/memorialdayconcert/remembrance/

From: “Kimani, Julia”
To: “braskewitz@yahoo.com”
Sent: Wednesday, May 1, 2013 12:28 PM
Subject: CBS News Request/VA Backlog/Hollis Williams

Hi John,

I’m a producer with the CBS Evening News with Scott Pelley and I’m working on a piece about the VA backlogs and how in spite of these backlogs, and other issues some administrators were given bonuses. I ran across your blog/tribute to your friend Hollis and saw that you believe he might still be alive if he had not been denied medical help by the U.S. Government– the VA, SSI, or Medicare. I’d love to talk to you more about this. Could you please email me with your contact info, or give me a call. My contact info is below. Hope to talk to you soon.

Julia

http://www.pbs.org/memorialdayconcert/remembrance/

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